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Brenden Sorsby- The Gambling Addiction

CBurrr93 said:
Yup. I agree. Not going to fight you on that at all. Still 100 percent responsible for actions.
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Agreed. I’ve been around addiction my entire life. It’s still up to the person but they actually have to want to change it up. The current environment with social media is great, but also makes this thing more difficult

Anyway. I was a **** to the other guy because he’s treated people like **** on this board for years. Appreciate the candor.
 
PIPO said:
Dude is ****ed in terms of finishing his college career, IMO!
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It looks like most of his bets were the tiny in-game ones like next pitch will be a ball or strike.. that sh*t. So if he didn't bet on his own team there's a small chance they could let him skate but it doesn't look good.
 
CBurrr93 said:
But without going full on therapy on here, appreciate the kind words. And let your close one know there’s other very normal and good people in the same boat he is
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Admitting you have an issue is a huge step and shows strength. Draw on that strength to help overcome your issue. Hang in there and never fear to vent on here.
 
Trav said:
It looks like most of his bets were the tiny in-game ones like next pitch will be a ball or strike.. that sh*t. So if he didn't bet on his own team there's a small chance they could let him skate but it doesn't look good.
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I believe the problem won’t be these bets but the ones in which during his freshman year he bet on his team at Indiana.
 
caneingville said:
Thank you. It’s hard for me to personally understand as I have never experienced addiction firsthand, but I have somehow been surrounded by it my whole life. Lots of friends and family members. So I do not judge, and I just try to support and understand.

My friend has been sober from alcohol for almost 15 years now, but has never been able to stop gambling the same way. He’s getting tested for ADHD, is in GA with a sponsor and just got his 30 day chip recently. He also said there’s something called Gamban that helps you “self-exclude” from the apps in your phone so you can’t gamble, but I don’t really understand that. I feel like the technology will adapt. I hate all the ads we see in sports now, and how they’re going after younger kids.
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Would be interested to hear on the adhd, as it lowers baseline dopamine and gambling spikes dopamine and easier to get addicted. Many people walk around joking they have adhd but have never been tested and actually do. Plus it affects your executive function in brain which makes it harder to quit anything after you are addicted. Most people wont understand because they cant comprehend.

I am social drinker and have no problem having a couple drinks and being good. But some people can be in same environment with same drinks but they have urge to get blackout.. Hard for some to understand but more so than other addictions it seems.

Like mentioned in thread earlier, you have middle school kids and such stealing credit card from parents to gamble, the betting sites were PAYING streamers to gamble online to get the kids hooked early. They would just give drake 1 million to blow online while he shared it publicly, its alot going on that people seem oblivious to until grim reaper hits home and then shrug and keep going..
 
CBurrr93 said:
I fight my own gambling problems. Hasn’t ruined my life or anything but it really is hard to explain unless you’re going through it. Slots my vice though. Not sports. The craziest thing about it is you will quit and your finances will finally feel on track and that urge for the dopamine it releases is so strong that it’s almost impossible to not give in. I feel for anyone dealing with it. It’s stupid and would absolutely be something I clowned someone for 10 years ago. Like I said it’s hard to explain. Harder to quit than any substance in my opinion. You don’t need substances. You need money. So it is super harmful. Hate how much it is promoted
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I am no specialist and I don’t have addiction vices except this stupid website, lol.

Distractions seems to help people when they start feeling the urge. I am sure you’ve tried a million things but for example, when you start getting that urge to play slots, use that as your queue to try something new: like drawing, coloring, fixing something in your house/apartment, some type of project around the house, ask your kid to throw a ball, go hit some golf balls at a nearby range, etc.

Again, just trying to offer some ideas. You’ve probably tried them as is.

You mentioned ADHD. My son was diagnosed clinically with that when he was in 3rd grade. The pediatrician was like, “you must put him on these pills is that he can focus and get his homework done, etc.”

We were super hesitant because you know, we all have some form of ADHD, lol. We survived growing up without pills in the 80s and 90s for that sort of stuff.

But we decided to give it one moth. First 2 days were cool. He was super focused on everything and full of energy. But he started getting side effects (ticks, lip licking, eye twitching, appetite suppression, etc). We had the dose titrated down. He still didn’t feel good in his stomach, said he felt weird and not himself.

We stopped it 1.5 months in and destroyed all of the pills. Never again. We just started to help him with structure: cleaning out his back pack weekly, calendar updates on his planner, made him write everything down, checked his grades weekly for assignments, etc.

Yes, extra work for us that was a pain but that’s what we are supposed to do as parents. Keep reinforcing those habits. It will eventually click. He misses assignments from time to time. We don’t make a big deal about it. He writes to the teacher to ask to make up. Sometimes they say yes and other times they say no. Just live with whatever the decision is but I will trade it every day for not making him dependent on pills to focus or study or get **** done.

So I’ve become a big proponent from getting off those pills.

Best of luck to you man. Keep fighting the fight.
 
CBurrr93 said:
And like you no specialist. But I think you did the right thing. I think it’s the worst decision I made ever taking them. And again everyone is different. But lights don’t seem as bright. Excitement is harder to come by. Again I’m completely fine. I do think it’s just pushed to be medicated constantly and we have accepted it. My parents battled every day without this kind of medication ya know? But I would have done exactly what you did in your situation. And again, only my opinion. As someone with experience in the matter. It may be the best thing in the world for certain people. But now it’s a crutch for me instead of a corrector. Without the medication, I’m just a slob with a headache. Plan to ween off one day
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Best of luck to you, brother! I know this **** is hard.
 
Of course unable to find the tweet that claimed he was betting on the road while at Indiana and Cincy

Siap

His NCAA career is over
 
CBurrr93 said:
Also didn’t mean to derail the thread lmao carry on. Glad we got Mensah but this board would be hilarious if we had sorsby currently
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Test Boom GIF
 
idgaf if he bet on his own teams games he deserves lifetime CFB ban. If he bet on CFB at all he deserves min of half season suspension.

He needs to immediately go PR mode to enter supplemental draft and convince NFL teams he won’t pose an issue in this regard.

Jets should use 2nd or 3rd on him.
 
AtlAtty said:
As a father of a child in recovery, what I have learned about addiction is the biological side is not discussed enough.
Addicts get a dopamine release beyond that which the rest of us experience from the same activity; whether that is a substance, eating or gambling. And then their brains want more and more dopamine to be released. So they keep up the addiction even when they know it is wrong or harmful. After some time of this the brian develops a neural pathway connected to the addictive substance/activity.

Sorsby is clearly an addict. And possibly to more than jsut gambling (but hopefully not). He needs treatment more than he needs to play football because without it, his entire life will be one misstep after another will trying to get the next “hit”.

I hope the sports world gives him the room to make this about his health and not about the sport. That has never happened for Tiger Woods and we see the impact of an untreated addiction on his life. He’s 50 years old and still doing the same stupid sh*t because he never gets real help.
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Thanks for sharing, but it is not that clear to me that he is an addict. We need more information to make that claim. And I 100% agree about what you said about dopamine, I always tell my friends it is all about the dopamine, it is a gift and a curse. I read a couple of good books on dopamine, "Molecule of More" and "Dopamine Nation."
 
PIPO said:
I am no specialist and I don’t have addiction vices except this stupid website, lol.

Distractions seems to help people when they start feeling the urge. I am sure you’ve tried a million things but for example, when you start getting that urge to play slots, use that as your queue to try something new: like drawing, coloring, fixing something in your house/apartment, some type of project around the house, ask your kid to throw a ball, go hit some golf balls at a nearby range, etc.

Again, just trying to offer some ideas. You’ve probably tried them as is.

You mentioned ADHD. My son was diagnosed clinically with that when he was in 3rd grade. The pediatrician was like, “you must put him on these pills is that he can focus and get his homework done, etc.”

We were super hesitant because you know, we all have some form of ADHD, lol. We survived growing up without pills in the 80s and 90s for that sort of stuff.

But we decided to give it one moth. First 2 days were cool. He was super focused on everything and full of energy. But he started getting side effects (ticks, lip licking, eye twitching, appetite suppression, etc). We had the dose titrated down. He still didn’t feel good in his stomach, said he felt weird and not himself.

We stopped it 1.5 months in and destroyed all of the pills. Never again. We just started to help him with structure: cleaning out his back pack weekly, calendar updates on his planner, made him write everything down, checked his grades weekly for assignments, etc.

Yes, extra work for us that was a pain but that’s what we are supposed to do as parents. Keep reinforcing those habits. It will eventually click. He misses assignments from time to time. We don’t make a big deal about it. He writes to the teacher to ask to make up. Sometimes they say yes and other times they say no. Just live with whatever the decision is but I will trade it every day for not making him dependent on pills to focus or study or get **** done.

So I’ve become a big proponent from getting off those pills.

Best of luck to you man. Keep fighting the fight.
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You should know that you are not the only parent that has done this for their child. Mom n I are very strict on the no pills. I'll do the work gladly and happily, my g.
 
CBurrr93 said:
I fight my own gambling problems. Hasn’t ruined my life or anything but it really is hard to explain unless you’re going through it. Slots my vice though. Not sports. The craziest thing about it is you will quit and your finances will finally feel on track and that urge for the dopamine it releases is so strong that it’s almost impossible to not give in. I feel for anyone dealing with it. It’s stupid and would absolutely be something I clowned someone for 10 years ago. Like I said it’s hard to explain. Harder to quit than any substance in my opinion. You don’t need substances. You need money. So it is super harmful. Hate how much it is promoted
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Why gambling is a little different than substances, is that the body has its limits. You can be an alcoholic, but after drinking enough, your body eventually passes out. Gambling doesn't have that limitation.
 
lurker said:
Thanks for sharing, but it is not that clear to me that he is an addict. We need more information to make that claim. And I 100% agree about what you said about dopamine, I always tell my friends it is all about the dopamine, it is a gift and a curse. I read a couple of good books on dopamine, "Molecule of More" and "Dopamine Nation."
Click to expand...
Yeah I don’t know for sure, but one thing I look at is whether the person has a lot to lose and yet engages in the behavior anyways. That is certainly not scientific by any measure, but if Sorsby was aware of the potential penalties to his eligibility and gambled anyways, then he definitely took enormous risks. So enormous that by my estimation only an addict would engage in the behavior. But again, not scientific.
 
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